Wally the Wasp
Live wasp shot handheld. Not stacked.
Live wasp shot handheld. Not stacked.
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Aperture 13/1 ISO 200 Shutter 1/160 Focal Length 38/1 
Jul, 2016Views
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keithpassaur
October 18, 2016
I have a site called www.macroshooting.com that goes over it. This one was actually done with an old $30 kit lens and a reverse adapter
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on the front window of my house. There was a wasp nest there and it was at a perfect height for numerous angles.Time
This was shot in the middle of the afternoon.Lighting
I used Canon 270 EX II flash on a bracket with a small diffuser.Equipment
I shot this with a Canon 5D MKII, a reversed Canon 28-90 4 -5.6 kit lens from the 90's and a Meike MK-C-UP reverse adapter. You can find these adapters now branded under a couple of different names now and they sell new for around $50 on ebay. Novoflex also make one for close to $500 which is really no better - I can make the claim as I have had both. What this adapter does is allow you to create a zoom macro (if used with a zoom lens). With this setup you can get a little better that 3:1 magnification and items up around a foot in size. Then if you remove the adapter you really have 3:1 magnification to infinity in one lens.Inspiration
I was putting on a macro workshop and I wanted examples of the quality you could get from different hardware configurations. I had this setup and I had only used it a couple of times before getting a Canon MPE-65. So I pulled it out and the above shot was the result. When taking pictures of bugs you will end up cropping and corner clarity becomes less important. So in a nutshell once you get it down you can get incredible shots with very inexpensive equipment.Editing
I used Lightroom and Nik Sharpening. Nothing real special.In my camera bag
I have been through all kinds of bags, cases, backpacks, from numerous manufactures. What I have settled on is a waterproof tool box from Stanley. These are sort of like a low budget lightweight Pelican case. Inside each item has its own case or holster. I have a 5D MK II with a 100mm L series macro lens. For lenses in my box I have a 24-105, a 100-400 zoom and either the zoom with the adapter mentioned above or a MPE-65. So I am covered from 5:1 magnification up to 400mm. Besides the lenses I have a set of graduated ND filters, a piece of welders glass. (I don't have a 10 stop ND) I keep a flash and a flash bracket with a homemade diffuser. Once I get to a location I just pull out what I am going to need and I leave the rest locked up in the car. Rarely do carry a bunch of stuff with me out in the woods and when I do I just put the individual item (its in its own case anyway) in a cheap lightweight nylon backpack. I think the backpack is actually made out of what they make parachutes out of, as it folds up to about a 2 1/2 inch cube.Feedback
I have a site called www.macroshooting.com and on it there is a manual called 3 Days to Better Bug Photography (its free). There are numerous exercises in this manual that if you actually do, (not just read about) you will get really good at photographing bugs very quickly. If you just read it you will say, "I know that" but you really don't until you prove it to yourself. The basic key to it is to get absolutely no camera movement and the proper focus. Eliminating movement is not easy as flash really does not always remove all camera movement (I worded this carefully - that is why you do the exercises) and tripods etc. are usually not an option with a moving bug. As far as the focus goes there is no DOF, you will notice diffraction if you go with a small f stop (and you will have more chance of camera movement) so what you learn to do is manually focus on four focus points. The points are focused on by angling the camera. You pick a top point, bottom point and a left and right point.
